modifications:
* avoid unsigned->signed integer conversion
* do not handle special cases when they work correctly anyway
* more strict threshold values (0x1p26 instead of 0x1p28 etc)
* smaller code, cleaner branching logic
* same precision as the old code:
    acosh(x) has up to 2ulp error in [1,1.125]
    asinh(x) has up to 1.6ulp error in [0.125,0.5], [-0.5,-0.125]
    atanh(x) has up to 1.7ulp error in [0.125,0.5], [-0.5,-0.125]